


Astralis.

by wordsss



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Moving In Together, implied PTSD, its pretty sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-14
Updated: 2016-11-14
Packaged: 2018-08-31 00:56:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8556274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordsss/pseuds/wordsss
Summary: Hinata finally gets home.





	

The first thing that crosses Hinata’s mind when she wakes is that home will be different from now on. The soft sunlight on her face, the robin’s gentle song- nothing registers. All she can think about is blue bedsheets, a shared apron and the old poster in an old apartment by the marketplace.

And she’s so happy she could cry.

* * *

“Today’s the day, huh?” Hanabi says, at breakfast.

 

“Yes,” Hinata answers, smiling. “It’s today.”

 

Hanabi hides her answering smile behind a scowl when their father joins the table.“Good morning, father.” Hinata greets. Her father glances over at them but doesn’t answer, doesn’t acknowledge, and sits down. He is as cold as he has been since the day he found out. Hanabi is irritated. She is an inch from spitting some scornful words before Hinata stops her.

 

Hinata shakes her head and smiles. _Not today._

* * *

 

“Hi.” He says, smiles, breathless.

 

Hinata’s heart skips a beat and the dark clouds are already gone, gone, gone. The sun shines oh so bright and gentle. _So this what it’s like to be in love,_ she thinks. Not the years watching from afar, not the months where she couldn’t stand being too close, but the days of standing a little too close, smiling a little too wide, heart beating fast then slowing down. _So this is love_ , she thinks.

“Hi,” She says, “Good morning.”

 

He grins back. “Today’s the day.”

 

“Today’s the day.”

 

“I’m so excited!! I couldn’t sleep at all last night. Just kept thinking and thinking and dreaming and…” His ears turn red. “...I..am really happy.”

 

“I am too.” She tells him, her own cheeks coloring. “...I couldn’t sleep last night either..”

 

“Yeah?”

“...Yes.”

 

There is a bit of silence and Hinata just looks at him. Him, with his golden hair, shorter than what she’s used to, and the blue of his eyes, ever so bright, ever so clear, Hinata never really found a shade to compare it with, and the structure of his cheekbones to the adorable whiskers---He is so, so beautiful.

 

“Listen, Hinata I-”

 

“Naruto!!” He is cut short when a teammate calls out his name. “Hurry up!! We have to actually leave to get back on time.”

 

“Coming!” he shouts back then turns back to her.  “Sorry, I have to go now. I'll see you soon.”

 

“Be safe.” Hinata says, “I'll be waiting for you.”

 

“Naruto!! your girlfriend will be here when you get back and then you can actually get a room!”

 

“Shut up!I’m comin’!” He bites back, embarrassed, but still leans down to kiss her cheek. “I'll get going now.” he runs off towards his teammates for the day.

 

“Good luck!” Hinata shouts after him with uncharacteristic gusto. She doesn't need to see his face to know he's smiling.

 

 _So this is love,_ Hinata thinks to herself.

* * *

 

 

_The day was quiet._

 

_They walked through the park and ate at Ichiraku’s and then went back to the park. They found a bench, one perfect for two and then they talked. He told her about his hopes for the future and she told him about hers. He spoke about his childhood and she spoke about hers. They talked about favorite foods and favorite colors and favorite songs. And when the sun began to set Hinata rested her head on his shoulder._

 

_It was dreamlike and for a second, Hinata thought it was a dream._

 

_She thought when she opened her eyes she’ll see that the sky was still red and the bodies were still there. A war had ended. She had just lived through a war. She had just won a war. But her dear, dear brother hadn’t. There will be Neji’s body by her feet and a thousand others somewhere near by._

 

_She opened her eyes they aren’t._

 

_She began laughing._

 

_“What’s wrong?” Naruto asked._

 

_“This isn’t a dream.” she told him._

 

_HInata's delirious with happiness. But Naruto is not. The words he spits next are poison, laced with hurt and insecurity._

 

* * *

 

Sakura and Ino helps her with the remaining boxes since Hanabi can’t. It's just two boxes, filled with books, sketchpads and scrolls Hinata just can’t bear to part with. It’s not necessary to take those right away but the two girls insist.

 

“Is it really okay?” Hinata asks again, grateful but hesitant still. “I mean they aren’t very important. I can take them there myself later.”

 

“And leave your prized things where your still disapproving father can get his hands on them? Fat chance.” Ino says, grinning.

 

Hinata tries her best not to wince but Sakura notices anyway. “Ino!” She scolds the blond and Ino shoots her an apologetic look.  “Don’t mind the pig, Hinata. He’ll come around.”

 

“It’s fine. I know he’ll come around soon.” Hinata smiles because she _does_ know. But her father’s disapproval, disappointment is all she’s ever known and it’s left wounds that are not quite healed yet. Fathers disapproving lovers is a tale as old as time. Her father is simply weary, worried even and he expresses his feelings through cold eyed stares and silence instead of words. But Hinata’s old wounds still burn. She ignores it. “Either way, my father is a very honorable man and he wouldn’t go through my personal things… Kou might though but Hanabi wouldn’t allow it.”

 

“Well, no need for that. We’ll get them where they belong before you even get there.” Sakura smiles.

* * *

 

So this is him, _she thought, a week after the big fight when Naruto handed her a fistful of daisies. It's the first time they're seeing each other in so long and last week's all consuming wrath turned itself into lingering sadness and claw marks of insecurities that go to the depths of seas._

 

 _“I'm sorry,” he said, offering the flowers to her, “I’m sorry about the things I said. I'm sorry that I upset you. I'm sorry that I'm not who you thought I was. I'm sorry. I still love you.”_ Please don’t go.

 

_Hinata looked at the yellow and green of the daisies. She could tell he picked them himself. She had watched him spend hours in a flowershop, asking the clerk about flowers and meanings and trying to find a bouquet that looks the way he feels. The clerk grew annoyed pretty soon when Naruto kept choosing flowers and frowning when they didn't fit the occasion like he felt they should. In the end he chose to buy what he felt was right._

 

_Hinata looked at the handful of daisies he offered her--small and mellow and raw, vulnerable--and she accepted them._

 

 _“I’m sorry too. I still love you more than anything.” She told him then and he threw his arms around her. He held her like he wanted to pull her inside his chest, like he never wanted to let go. So Hinata pressed her feelings to the form of words and muttered into his his shoulders, “You are everything I never dared to dream of, you are everything I want and more. You're everything. I love you. I love you.”_ I’m not going to leave, _she promised._

 

_And then, he believed her._

 

* * *

Hinata is called to the school a few times a year. She’s a member of one of the oldest clan in Konoha, successor of a bloodline limit and a skilled and experienced tracker. She’s often called to share her experience but not as often as she’d like. She’s mostly called upon to talk about her experience as a war veteran.

 

They don’t call anyone else for it, only Hinata. Most refuse to, others far too traumatised and the rest aren’t fit to talk of it before children.But Hinata speaks of war with a sense of duty and of tragedy. She doesn’t hide her trauma, she doesn’t lie about it’s ugliness. Hinata speaks softly, Hinata only tells the truth.

 

Iruka-sensei always approaches her after.

 

“Thank you, Hinata.” He says this time too,

 

“Of course, sensei.” She smiles at him, suddenly exhausted. “You don’t have to thank me every time.”

 

“I do. Thank you, dear,” Hinata feels like crying a little. “Naruto’s talked my ear off about how important today is to you. I’m so sorry to make you live through that hell again and putting a damper on your good mood.”

 

“Oh, sensei, don’t worry about that!” She tells him. Her good mood is a thing completely separate from her grief. She’s always grieving. She’s always grieving just like everyone who’s even been in war is. War is a living breathing thing, it feeds on human souls. It’s so hard to live with a war in your chest. But Hinata knows sensei knows it too.

 

“I’m happy today and I won’t let anything eat up my happiness.”

 

She spends the rest of the day at the training ground anyways.

* * *

 

_“It’s feels so empty. I know it’s silly to find it empty. The Hyuuga estate is always filled to the brim wIth people from the main clan and the branch family and clans they say are lesser than us. The house is never dark, never completely asleep. But I feel so alone. Hanabi’s there but she’s so young and full of life. Father’s there but he’s so far away. Kou’s there but he isn’t. He loves me and cares for me but he’s never been there. It’s so hollow that I’m sure if it’ll echo forever if I scream. And I, I don’t want to be alone there anymore.”_

 

_“Then don’t be.”_

 

_“You-you don’t understand.”_

 

_“I do.”_

 

_“NO! You don’t! You don’t understand.”_

 

_“Hinata, you know I do.”_

 

_“I...I’m sorry.”_

 

_“It’s okay. I feel empty and hollow and alone too.”_

 

_“I’m so sorry.”_

 

_“It’s alright. Because…”_

 

_“Because?”_

 

_“I feel like I’m going to be okay right now. If you’re with me, I think I can be okay.”_

 

 _“It's the same for me. Being with you is always bearable, you know? When I’m with you even if I’m alone and never okay again. I’d rather just_ be _than not.”_

 

_“.....Do you mean that?”_

 

_“I do!”_

 

_“Really?”_

 

_“Yes. I’m so tired, Hinata, tired of being alone, y’know?”_

 

_“I’m tired too.”_

 

_“Then let’s stop. Let’s stop being alone.”_

 

_“Okay.”_

 

* * *

 

The walk home is different now.

There’s neon lights of the signs and the shops instead the tiny flicker of a lamppost.

There’s shouts of clerks and laughter of teens instead of the crickets buzzing.

There’s three turns left and one right instead of the straight path that she followed to the main house.

 

But Hinata wonders if life will really be different now.

 

She takes the dimly light stairs to the fourth floor and makes a mental note to ask the landlord to install better lighting for the staircase. She almost knocks before remembering that she has a key too. She fishes out the keychain from her bag. It has a little of naruto hanging from it and Hinata smiles. Sasuke bought it for her and he got one for Naruto with a sunflower--his way of giving them his approval.

 

She fumbles a little. The lock is rusty and there’s a certain trick to opening it that Hinata hasn’t quite mastered yet but the lock clicks open for her anyway. Hinata steps into the small apartment illuminated by the lights from the next building over and breathes.

 

Old and worn yet so beautiful, so theirs.  Naruto replaced all the creaky floorboards himself and Hinata painted all the walls in the palest shade of yellow. They chose all the furniture together and argued about what they didn’t need. (“We can just stack the books by the wall!!” “Naruto-kun, the bookshelf stays.” “Fine, but if you get the bookshelf then we’re definitely getting the car sofa!” “We don’t afford that!” “Hi~na~ta~!!”)

 

Hinata reaches out and turns on the light when a head peeks out from the hallway.

 

“I thought I heard the door open!” Naruto grins at her. He’s wearing the only apron they have, a  hideous pink one that says ‘kiss the cook’, and holding a spatula. “Welcome home, darling. I’m making dinner.”

 

“N-Naruto-kun? What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at the Hokage’s office?”

 

He laughs, “I came back early. I wanted to be here to say ‘Welcome home, darling. I’m making dinner.’,” he walks over to her, “I've always wanted to someone to greet me when I get back but it feels just as good to say it.” he laughs again and leans towards her. “Welcome home, honey.” He says again.

 

“I’m home.” Hinata whispers and presses her lips against his smile.

 

The kiss is soft until it's not. Hinata throws an arm around his neck and uses the other to quickly rid of her shoes. Naruto's free hand is in her hair and they're still kissing when he drops the spatula to put his other arm around her waist. Hinata laughs, for the first time in the entire day. Naruto bites her lip in response.

 

“ _Dear._ ” She presses a kiss to his jaw and he groans and capture her lips again. “ _Dear_ ,” tries again, this time pulling away from his skin and just pressing her forehead against his. “I’d _love_ to spend the rest of the night kissing, but don’t you smell something burning?”

 

He freezes “OH MY GOD! THE SPAGHETTI!!”

 

Naruto rushes to reach the kitchen but he's too late. The food is beyond saving.

 

Naruto groans, “Nooo! I had to beg Tsunade for the recipe.” Hinata can’t hold in her laughter and he glares at her, “What's so funny?”

 

“N-nothing.” She struggles to hold back another fit of giggles, “You’re just too cute, Naruto-kun.”

 

“Cute?” He huffs, blushing. “Hina~ta, There's nothing cute about burning our very first dinner in the very first night in our very first apartment! This was supposed to be romantic!!” he whines and wraps his arms around her waist.

 

Hinata can't help it, she breaks into laughter again. He pouts at her. She just presses her face against his shoulder to muffle her giggles. Her heart feels full, swollen, like it's about to burst.

 

“But now that I think about it..” Hinata can hear his smile, knows it's full of mischief. “You're the one who was distracting me with all those kisses. I think you oughta take responsibility here, _Hina-chan.”_

 

Hinata stills, looks up very slow. His smile is there, like Hinata knew it would be, and his eyes are aflame, burning into her. She stares for a second, mesmerised and pushes herself up to be closer. He holds his breathe, eye falling closed and lips parted in anticipation. She stares.

 

“Naruto-kun?”

 

“Mhmm?” He doesn't open his eyes.

 

“I’m not taking responsibility.”

 

His eyes fly open but she's already pulled away from him and running towards the hall. Naruto grins, “Oh yes, you are.”

 

They spend the rest of the evening chasing each other and laughing. And later, when they've settled for instant noodles for dinner and have laid themselves to bed, Hinata calls out his name.

 

“Naruto-kun.”

 

“Hinata.” He answers and shifts closer. Their bed is small and they're close enough for Hinata to feel his breath in her lashes.

 

“I wasn't sure of this. Moving in together so soon, I mean. Well, I was. But my father, Kou,even Kurenai-sensei… they told me that they thought we are moving too fast, that we’re just holding on to each other because we're scared.”

 

Naruto breathes but doesn't speak, she continues. “But I don't think so. I am scared and I am holding on to you. But not because I’m broken but because you're the most beautiful person I've ever seen. Because I love you. Because the war made me an ancient person, I feel older than my years. Dying is so _easy_ . I know because I killed and I saw people get killed. Naruto, Death is right _here._ Life is so short.I don't want to waste a second away from you, trying to take it slow.”

 

“I feel the same way. We _are_ moving fast. But I think I am older than my time too and...Hinata, I think I…..I suffered enough. I want to be happy now and you make me happy. You make me feel safe and…”

 

“I love you.”

 

“Me too. I love you more than anything.”

 

She pulls him close and he holds her like she'll disappear. He inhales when she exhales. Hinata presses a kiss against his pulse and he tucks his face into her neck.

 

For once, the war in them is silent.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr.


End file.
